Sorry, Floyd: ChiSox Yanks Gamer

Floyd was the name of a custodian at my high school, and he was very popular. One year for a senior prank, some guys took a car apart and re-assembled it in one of the school's inner courtyards, painting "Sorry, Floyd" on it, knowing he'd get stuck with the mess. Gavin Floyd pitches for the Pale Sox tonight, and the Yankees can't suck that much at the plate two nights in a row, can they? Sorry Floyd.

Soriano is a FUCKING JOKE!!! I WANT TO SMACK THAT STUPID APATHETIC LOOK OF HIS FUCKING FACE!!! Hey asshole, how about earning that fucking $13 MILLION A YEAR YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!!!
Cashman was right. This guy is fucking horrible,
That is all.

I’ve come to the considered conclusion that Rafael Soriano is a horrible human being. On par with serial killers and pedophiles.
Oh, and he can’t pitch the 8th inning of a close game to save his life.
Today I posted about how the Yankees bested the Sox in the off-season at the catcher position.
Tomorrow I will write about how everything the Yankees did this Spring or will do this season is destined to be undone by a dour, disinterested, pouting a*# who doesn’t like cold weather, doesn’t like his 8th-inning role, and apparently doesn’t like holding leads.
By far my least favorite Yankee. By a ton.

I have a theory that Soriano is still being paid by the Rays. They realized he can be far more effective at sabotaging close games.
I’ll take Joba in meltdown mode over this. At least Joba looks like he hates himself as much as we do in those moments.

happy birthday krueg…
yeah last nite was a bummer…to lose a game we had won, like maybe 3 times…the blown save, arod’s line drive, and then cano’s…that hurt, but oh well, i expect we’ll win our share of those…we have a $35m douchebag…no way this guy is opting out after this season…who else is stupid enough to pay him 35m over 3 seasons?…question for cashman: what made you think this douchebag had the stones to play in ny?…assignment for jeter: you’re the captain, take mo with you if you need backup and get in this a**hole’s face and tell him you’ll kick his a** if he doesn’t get with the program…there, i feel better

Why did Girardi have his team’s hottest power hitter giving up an out in the ninth with two more power hitters following him in the lineup?
That makes about as much sense as having Jason Varitek start more games because he has a magical ability to get pitchers to have better stuff when they take the mound.

“…Wasn’t Cashman vocally opposed to this signing?…”
yeah, i messed that up sf…i was just venting…it doesn’t have the same standard for accuracy as regular conversation ;) but, i should have said, hank/hal, why have a gm if you don’t listen to him?…who knows, it’s such a long season, i may be singing sorry-ano’s praises before it’s over…doubt it
can’t answer that paul…a head scratcher…as for tek, i thought he did have those mystical powers…at least that’s what we’re always hearing, though i can’t say that you’ve proposed that theory

Thanks boys. There is no way we lose tonight, on my actual birthday. They wouldn’t dare…would they???
I’m trying not to get to upset about games in April. We’re over .500 which seems to NEVER happen early in the season so meh…Soriano will get better. Hopefully. Gulp.
He just looks like such a dick.

“Why did Girardi have his team’s hottest power hitter giving up an out in the ninth with two more power hitters following him in the lineup?”
Been listening the same comments on sports talk radio here in Yankeeland. The answer is simple: Because you put the tying run (always play for a tie at home when given the chance) in scoring position with two chances with the teams best hitters up to plate the run. Hot, not hot, power hitter, slap hitter I don’t care you have to bunt there and play the % and listen to the “book”. Granderson also grounded into a DP earlier in the game, something the Yankees are awesome at. It’s the right baseball move. If Lillibridge (former middle infielder) didn’t make the 2 best catches of his entire life there’s zero talk about this, but rather hey look at Girardi pushing the right buttons. He’s got big shoulders, he can handle the criticism. Unfortunately the criticism is off base. (Not you per se Paul, but these local “Yankee” fans that were watching the game and calling in to WFAN.)

I believe the Yankees were the only team not to lose 2 in a row all season until last night.
3 things: One, Soriano’s velocity was way up. Who knows if that’s good or bad. Two, Floyd pitched a very, very good game. Tip your hat and lace em up today. Three, Ozzie’s bullpen situation is nuts. Thornton is lights out as a set up man, can’t handle the 9th. Santos has the best #’s, but threw a fatty to Cano. Bet he wishes he had Jenks back!
Happy Birthday Krueg!

But John, the bunt actually INCREASED the White Sox’ win expectancy.
“By the book” managing is what Girardi did. It is a really interesting question, in any case, whether it was the right move. There are very good reasons why giving up the out for the extra base is not the thing to do, and also some reasons for why it is. It’s not cut and dry, either way, as far as I am concerned.

When you have three outs left, giving up one of them to advance a runner one base is usually the wrong move. The number of runs you are expected to score in the inning goes DOWN from runner on first none out to runner on second one out.
I’m more likely to understand the move when the bunter is more likely to ground into a double play, is not a power threat or the batters behind him are poor hitters or not power threats. None of these was true in this situation, not with an insanely hot Granderson, who is not only a power threat but also extremely unlikely to ground into a double play anyway, and certainly not with A-Rod and Teixeira coming up behind him.
And I think the situation bore this out. True, if the Yanks hadn’t been robbed twice in a row, they would have won the game. Of course, if they hadn’t been robbed twice in a row, the runner would have scored from first without the bunt being necessary. Instead, Girardi played “by the book,” as SF said, even though the book has been shown to be wrong in this case more often than not.

I was firmly opposed to the sac bunt when it happened last night before we saw how the inning would pan out and I remain so today, not that it matters. I’m at another airport so don’t have the capacity to look it up but I’m sure his fly ball/line drive : ground ball ratio is pretty darn high and, even if he hits it in the dirt, he’s got pretty good speed to beat out the DP. You place on top of that fact that he had hit 5 homers in his last 7 games and is generally hitting balls on the screws and I really hate the move. Yes I know and understand the rationale for sac-bunting. I think in that situation it was just a bad idea.

“When you have three outs left, giving up one of them to advance a runner one base is usually the wrong move.”
Really? I’d venture to say if you asked 20 coaches you’d get the same answer from just about every single one. Ironically enough once Jeter was on base I texted a fellow coach “BUNT?” his response was “ABSOLUTELY.” Listen I don’t manage at the major league level nor do I pretend that I do or even understand what it’s like to manage other worldly talent like the Yankees have but by having a runner on second base you eliminate the double play (something that plagues the Yankees) and puts more pressure on the pitcher to make good pitches. I will admit that when you make decisions like this at that level it’s not cut and dry simply because of their talent level.
Again, Granderson did hit into a double play earlier in the game. Why is it crazy to think he’d do it again?
Granderson can bunt, if it was any other power threat I’d agree let’s take our chances. You don’t want to ask a guy to do something he’s not comfortable doing (a la Swisher last season) but Granderson is a fairly good bunter. He wasn’t out of his element.
His FB% is 49% in 2011. GB 34%. LD 17%. His HR/FB is 29%.
I’ll respect that people have their opinions, but I play by the book, right or wrong and I stick by Girardi’s decision to do so last night.

Identical situation came about in the Angels/A’s game on ESPN. Angels were the home team, trailing by 1 run in the bottom of the 9th. 1st batter gets on in similar fashion to Jeter, chopper to 3rd Kouzmanoff booted it. Next batter not only bunts, but bunts with 2 strikes! Abreu hits a liner down the 3rd base line to tie the game. The style of players differed slightly and their recent offensive success as well, but the situation was identical. Giving up an out to have 2 chances to score the runner from 2nd. They walked Hunter and eventually pitcher to Vernon Wells with runners on 1st and 2nd. So while that’s not A-Rod, Tex, Cano, etc…that’s still a good lineup.
Interestingly enough there was a bad call made by the umpires. They ruled the batter never brought the bat back on a bunt attempt while getting HBP. Watching replay he clearly brings the bat back and gets hit. They called strike 2 and Scioscia keep the bunt on anyway.

John, I mean no offense to you or your coaching skills, but I’m going to have to say the book is wrong.
Now I’m not a big-league manager or even a little league coach, so I understand if that means my argument holds little weight in this discussion. All I have is numbers, but they’re not fancy numbers. They’re pretty basic.
If we take all the examples from 1999-2002 of having a runner on first and nobody out, on average how many runs are scored in that inning? And if we do the same for a runner on second and one out, how many runs on average score in that situation?
The answers:
Runner on 1st, no outs: 0.953 runs
Runner on 2nd, 1 out: 0.725 runs
The reason, I think, the bunt continues to be seen as a successful strategy is because you’re still likely to score a run in that inning with a runner on second and one out. But you are in fact more likely to score a run in that inning if you don’t give up one of the most precious commodities you have.
This is true in every generic bunting situation:
Runner on 2nd, no outs: 1.189 runs
Runner on 3rd, 1 out: 0.983 runs
Runners on 1st/2nd, no outs: 1.573 runs
Runners on 2nd/3rd, 1 out: 1.467 runs
Now, as I said before, I think there are times when you bunt, principally when you’ve got an epically poor hitter (the pitcher or Jason Varitek) at the plate or when the pitcher is so dominant that you can’t be sure of getting the hit you would need to score the run from first or second. But the numbers don’t lie. The chances you’ll score a run in an inning go down when you give up an out.

I’d be interested to see if those numbers change in “game winning” or “game tying” situations from say the 7th inning on. I think the numbers would be different as would the figures for the 9th. I am with you guys on the giving outs away, but in the final inning you go from glass half full to the glass half empty way of thinking.